Thoughts before reading:
I think that in terms of continuity, this one actually came before #120, but they were published in the same month, June of 1998, and #120 was listed first. Oh well. The mysteries seem to exist in their own side universe anyway, with time always overlapping and backtracking.
The basics:
Abby's home sick from school with bronchitis, and she's bored silly... she loves being on the go and busy. After two mindless days of channel surfing, a show she's never seen before catches her eye: Mystery Trackers. (It basically sounds like a tamer version of America's Most Wanted.) The episode she watches features 3 fugitives. One of them, Arthur Maguire, reminds Abby of someone, but she can't quite place who it could be.
Once she grows sick of the tv, Abby starts spying on her neighbors with binoculars for entertainment. (This is just as creepy as it sounds. She even mentions what kind of underwear a kid is wearing. Wtf?) While doing this, she realizes the criminal on Mystery Trackers reminded her of her neighbor, Mr. Finch. He's the unfriendly and rude type, known for mowing his lawn way too early in the morning. Abby tells the rest of the BSC about it, but since she has absolutely nothing to go on, they aren't exactly impressed.
Undaunted, she starts watching him more on her own, determined to find some proof that she's right. She notices children's drawings on his fridge, and becomes convinced it means that he's the guy who abandoned his family. She calls the Mystery Trackers hotline, and they give her the names of the featured criminals, and tell her they'll send a tape of that episode so she can make a positive ID.
From there, Abby pesters Kristy into helping her investigate, starting with looking at his mail, so they can figure out his first name. (It's Otto.) When she gets her tape in the mail, she has Kristy watch it. She agrees with Abby that Mr. Finch looks exactly like the embezzler who abandoned his family, and gets on board with helping.
Abby calls Sergeant Johnson for help next. He doesn't take her seriously, but he does run a background check, which comes up clean. She does learn from him that Mr. Finch is from Iowa, however, which is the same place as Arthur Maguire.
Later that day, she sees Mr. Finch burning things in his sink: photos, and what looks like a bank book. Abby calls the tv show hotline again, and the intern she spoke to last time promises to alert the authorities who work on the Maguire case.
Kristy decides they need to see the names of the kids from the fridge artwork, to find a match. She calls Mr. Finch, pretending to work for the phone company, and asks him to come down to her office to sort out his bill. Once he leaves, Kristy looks through his kitchen windows and digs through his outdoor trash. Mr. Finch comes back and almost catches her, until Abby calls his house again to distract him. Kristy makes a quick getaway... with a partially burned photo.
Both girls agree that the picture is of Mrs. Maguire, and Kristy saw the names on the drawings, and they were Patti and Joseph... the names of the Maguire kids. Abby calls Sgt. Johnson again, and he promises to look into it, but warns her to stay away from Mr. Finch.
Later on, while the BSC is over visiting Abby, Mr. Finch is arrested.
Side plot: Some of the BSC charges are having a go-cart contest.
Timeline:
It's June, but school isn't out yet.
Misc. thoughts:
*Why is Andrew living in Chicago for a few months? Did I miss something? It must be a Little Sister plot, but it would be nice if they briefly mentioned why in the recap.
*Abby thinks Sgt. Johnson is handsome. Eww. She's a little young to be noticing that about an adult. Didn't they say in one of the books that he was definitely older, with grown kids or grandkids? I forget exactly which.
*Claudia and Stacey try "cyber-sleuthing" for the first time. It's so weird to have the internet in the BSC-verse now. It seems really out of place... in my mind, they're always in the late 80s to early 90s.
*Abby calls Kristy nosy! That's the pot calling the kettle black if I've ever heard it. Who's the one spying on her neighbors with binoculars?!
*Kristy calls Abby brilliant, and Abby blushes! Hmm...
*Ghostwritten by Ellen Miles.
*This book was just like a preteen version of Disturbia, although this did come out first.
*If Abby had been wrong about her neighbor, I think I would have actually liked this. A bored, sick kid, who's stuck at home and lets their imagination run wild? Very believable, and a good story for this age group. (Maybe even a cautionary tale!) It would be similar to Jessi and the Jewel Thieves, but not in a bad way. Instead, the fact that she just happened to be right, and a criminal lived right next door, and all the coincidences this rested on, like her just happening to see that particular episode, made this one of the dumbest mysteries of the series.
*Only one more mystery to go!
*I was never bored when I was stuck home sick as a kid. I loved having a break from my routine, the empty house to myself, and empty hours to fill with tv and reading.
Books mentioned:
None
My rating:
2 stars. Like I said, a sick, bored kid spying on her neighbors and letting her imagination run wild would make a good story. This was just ridiculous.
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